Vacuum cleaner



Oct. 14, 1941. G. B. 'LUSE 2,259,386

VACUUM CLEANER Filed Aug. 28, 1940 k s Sheets-Sheet 1 3 r 22. 11-49 40 0 49 3rwentor M G Baa/aw Iuse (morn g Oct. 14, 1941. G. B. LUSE VACUUM CLEANER Filed Aug. 28, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ennentor G. B Zeea'n ree /5e C(ttorneg Oct. 14, 1941. G. B. LUSE 2,259,386

VACUUM CLEANER Filed Aug. 28, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet s ILL l a 21 a 3nventot 6.13laa'n12 use (Ittomeg Patented Oct. 14, 1941 I v Gordon Blain Luse, Big Spring, Tex. l

' Application August 28, 1940, Serial No. 354,618

Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in vacuum cleaners and it has for its fundamental purpose to afford the user with a machine which is self contained in all respects, specifically ,as regards its having combined with it the usual flexible hOse that is the foundation piece so to speak, of the several accessories commonly employed.

In explanation of the foregoing statement it .is common knowledge that the accessories of a vacuum cleaner comprise a number of separate parts which are selectively coupled to one end of a flexible hose after. the' other end of the latter has been connected to the vacuum cleaner, usually at an opening in the front of the housing. This practice has an admitted disadvantage from several standpointsr it is. a troublesome thing to remove the cover plate so that access may be had tothe opening in the housing as well as the belt. The flexible hose generally is fair1y long and involves a degree of annoyance in having to manipulate it for the connection. I

Again, it is an occurrence of not uncommon repetition that the flexible hose will become misplaced and very often is missing at the very time when its need is required. It is desired to note at this point that prior use has been made of the hollow handle of a vacuum cleaner for the purpose of conveying air whether laden with refuse or not, the significance of this acknowledgment being that said hollow handle which in recent years has fallen into disuse for the purposes stated is herein reestablished in use by combining with it the foregoing flexible hose and at the same time making the latter a permanent fixture -on the vacuum cleaner, all to the benefits presently explained.

Having the above preamble in mind the following objects of the invention will be easily understood: f

First, to provide a vacuum cleaner including in its construction a flexible hose,-,the connectionof which is permanent to'all intents and purposes, the advantage of its combination with the machine being that the latter is merely left standing in the approximate locality of the cleaning operation whence the flexible hose may be directed and wielded for its cleaning operation, the only requirement being to shift a gate valve by stepping on a treadle thus to divert the air stream produced by the blower fan.

Second, to provide a vacuum cleaner wherein the air stream can be diverted either to the acpurpose of making the reitnove the belt or to replace it for the respective ac s.

Third, to provide a vacuum cleaner which, in summarizing. the foregoing principles, consti- 5 tutes a complete machine in that it has equipment for'both going over rugs andthe like and also for cleaning upholstery and similar furnishings above the floordevel, all fully embodied in the machine and instantly available.

' Other objects and advantages will-appear in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is asideelevation of the improved vacuum cleaner.

on the line 2-'-2 of'Fig. 1, a number of the parts being shown in elevation.

v Figure 3 is, a detail .plan view of the movable roller shaft.-

Figure 4 is a frontelevation of the vacuum cleaner, a portion being broken away to reveal the workings of the gate valve.

Figure-5 is a cross section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4, the gate valveibeing open and the nozzle down. v

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic side elevation illustrating theposition of the gate valve when closed whereat the nozzle is up.

Figure 7 is a detail elevation of guide plate. v

Figure 8 it a detail vertical section taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 4.

I Figure 9is a detail cross section taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 4.

So muchof the commonly known vacuum cleaner 1. with whichvirtually all persons. are familiar, is briefly described as follows. A hous ing 2 which mainly comprises the front of the cleaner isinternally hollow and includes .the

40/ nozzle 3 .which characteristically is made to traverse the floor more or less closely. The interior of'the housing {normally has communication with the casing 4 (Fig. 5) of a centrifugal blower, the fan 5: of which is carried by a shaft 6 that is rotated by a motor 'l-under the control of a switch 8 (Fig. 1) on the hollow handle 9. I The back wall! ID of the housing 2 is identified at this point. It is. made integral at ll with the casing 4 of the blower. The latter has a central inlet I2 and a characteristically peripheral outlet 13 (Fig. 4) with which the bag I 4 is removably connected according to practice. The shaft 6 of the blower fan 5 has a fairly longextension' l5 through the inlet l2 and into the housing 2 cessory or to the'main nozzle without having to where it carries' a diminutive pulley l6 for the Figure. 2 ,is a. vertical section taken substantially the inserted purpose of driving the belt ll of the rotary brush l8.

This brush is journaled in the bottom of the nozzle 3 ,sufiiciently far down to expose the extremities of the bristles in the lowermost chord below both the edge of the nozzle and a guard l9 which is customarily snapped in place. The housing 2 is part of a body 26 which constitutes perhaps the bulk of the vacuum cleaner. This body is supported by two wheels 2| at the front and one or more casters 22 at the back, only one of the latter being shown in the drawings.

There is a more or less well known device for adjusting the orifice of the nozzle 3 in respect to f the floor, its operation causing a limited swinging action of the body 26 with the caster 22 as a ful-- crum with theresult that the nozzle orifice is adjusted as stated. The purpose is accomplished by turning a knob 23, and when the latter is turned it I" causes a screw 26 to bear down upon (or let up from the axle 21 of the contiguous wheel 2| so 4| against the back wall I. This shaft has the axles for the wheels 2| made integrally with it in crank form, there being a fairly strong spring 42 connected with it in such a manner as always to tend to raise the wheels (arrow a, Fig.2).

This ends the description of so much of the known vacuum cleaner as is directly concerned with the invention. It is to. be noted here that mo t types of vacuum cleaners are adaptable to th invention at most with only a few minor ch nges. The invention embodies two main features, first the diversion of the suction draft from the nozzle 3, second, the elevation of the nozzle to the limit height from the floor regardless of any previous setting of the adjusting knob 23. With respect to the first principle use is made of a gate valve 43 (Fig. 4). This valve is generally square in form, but notnecessarily so, and'it comprises either a single or composite metal structure. v

Said yalve is centrally notched at the top as at 44 to enable its fitting around the shaft extension l when raised to its full height as it is adapted to be when the nozzle 3 is shut off. A.

felt or similar seal 45 is riveted or otherwise secured at 46 behind the top edge of the gate valve. Said valve has at least one pair of rollers 41 on its lateral margins, but by preference these are duplicated at the top and bottom (Fig. 4) so as 'to establish an adequate bearing for the gate so that it cannot wander from side to side in its up and down movements."

A guide plate 48 (Fig. 7) is inserted in the nozzle chamber directly against the back wall III to which it is secured'by means of bolts 49 which go through ears 5|) at the sides of 'the'plate. I The latter has parallel upright tracks 5| on which the rollers .41 ride as clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 9. The top part of the plate 48 is cupped at 62 to bridge the space between the back' wall It 'andthe front wall of the blower casing 4, said.

cupped portion 52- being. "cut out semi-cylindrically at. 53 to match the central inlet establish permanent communicatioi. between the nozzle and blower chambers, excepting as the latter is interrupted by the gate 43. The top of the plate 48 has ears 53a.

It will be apparent that the purpose of the felt 45 is to seal off the nozzle chamber when the gate is raised so as to confine the suction indraft .to a transversely located tube 54 (Fig. 4), which is either fixed in position in the body 20 or swiveled as may be chosen as most desirable; When it is chosen to fix the tube use is made of a screw 54a (Fig. 5) for the purpose. The ears 53a go up under the tube and when the screw is driven home the top of the plate 48 is adequately held down. The tube 54 is closed at the end 55 (Fig.

4). Its opposite end 56 has a flexible tube section 51 coupled to it at 58. The coupling is generally in the nature of a short rubber sleeve which makes a good connection and at the same time enables easily slipping the sleeve on and off. The

same principle obtains in respect to a similar sleeve 59 on the other end ofthe tube section 51 where connection is made with an elbow 60 branching ofi from the hollow handle 9.

This handle is equipped with a number of clips 6| of any approved sort, for the purpose of detachably holding the free end of a flexible hose 62. This hose is the fundamental piece, so to speak of the various attachments or accessories usually employed in conjunction with a vacuum cleaner. Said free end is shown as having a small cleaner nozzle 63 connected to it, but in practice this nozzle may consist of some other cleaning part.

The important thing is that the accessory 63,

regardless of its nature, is always attached to the main cleaner so that when the user chooses to switch over from cleaning the floor to reach up for the cleaning of draperies, it is herein possible 4b to do so without having to life the vacuum cleaner or. to hunt around in a box for the necessary fiexible,hose. and the required accessory. To this end the flexible hose 62 is slid at 64 into the upper end of thehollow handle 9, to dispose, of the "surplus length when not in use and at the same time to close the orifice of the elbow 60. Inasmuch as the hose' 62 protrudes from the open upper end of the hull handle, the looping portion of said hose is conveniently accessible to the operator for sliding said hose infthe hollow handle and so open and close the orifice without stqoping. i An opening 65 in the tube 54 (Fig. 5) is directed toward and is in communication with the inlet 5 |2. The tube 54 is slightly flanged at 66 along one margin ofthe opening, more or less directly in line withthe gate valve 43 so that when the latter is raised it becomes quite possible to pack the'felt 45 snugly against the flange and thus establish the seal for which the felt is primarily intended. An amplification of the possible treatmerit of the tube 54 appears in the conclusion to this description.

Raising and lowering of the gate valve 43 is' 65 accomplished by a treadle 61 (Fig. 2) which branches off to one side of a rock shaft 68. :This shaft is firmly journaled m a bushing 69 that is set in a hole 10 in the back wall ID, that part of the shaft 68 whichextends beyond the bush- 70 inginto the interior of the nozzle chamber (Fig.

8) having rigidly attached to it a lever 1| (Fig.

4). Said attachment is desirably made by reducing the contiguous end of the shaft 68 into a flat key", for the purpose of which the lever l2 and 1|, isslotted at 13. The lever is set on-and when -mally the treadle 61 is up (Fig. '2).

the screw 14 is driven home the lever will be made rigid to the shaft as is necessary for the fairly heavy stress to which it is put.-

A coiled spring 15 is emplaced on the shaft 68 between an enlargement 16 of the bushing 69 and an arm 'II which projects down from the shaft. The tendency of the spring 15 is to expand, and since it pressesagainst the arm 11 it serves to hold the lever H tightly against the gate valve 43 and the latter against plate 48, making an air seal by spring action. The arm 11 is angler backwardly at 18 to provide a pin.

This pin has a sleeve roller 19 on it. ,Arm TI has 1 an adjustable bolt and lock nut 80 adapted to abut the lower casing 4 when the treadle 61 is stepped down upon to the limit.

, As is seen in Fig. 4, the outer end of the lever H is forked at 8|. The fork works around and upon a headed stud 82 that projects forwardly from the gate valve 43. It is perfectly clear that when the treadle 61 is manipulated the resulting swinging of the lever H moves the gate 43 either up or down thereby to either close off the nozzle chamber or place it into communication with the blower casing 4. A cam 83 is made onto the shaft 40 (Fig. 3). Actually said cam is a projection from the crank portion of the shaft adjacent to the axle 21. Said cam is in the nature of an arm and its free end is adapted to be ridden upon by the sleeve roller I9 (Fig. 2), it being observed that the whole cam arm 83 underlies the pin 18. The immediately preceding reference to the came arm 83 is an introduction to the second principle of the invention. It consists of automatically raising the nozzle '3 full height from the floor so as to avoid any possibility of the brush l8 from performingits action upon the floor or carpet and thus raising a dust which ,cannot be drawn into the air stream. The signiflcance of this statement is that when the accessory 63 is coupled into the air circuit, said circumstance is naturally accompanied by a closure of the gate valve 43 and since the nozzle 3 is then shut off from the blower casing 4 there is no way of drawing dust from the nozzle chamber. For that reason the nozzle 3 is raisedv as high as possible from the floor so. as to circumvent any possibility of the brush coming into contact with the carpet.

This'also means that in the use of this invention it is specifically intended not to uncouple the belt I1. This would require the removal of the front cover plate 84 which is neither desired nor required. So, regardless of;what the setting of the nozzle.3 might be because of a prior ad justment of the knob 23, the roller 19 and cam 83 will take over, so to speak, from any given in-' cidental position of the wheels 22, forcing the latter to the limit of their depressed positions when the treadle 61 is stepped upon. 7

The operation is readily understood. Nor- The gate valve 43 corresponds in position by being down (Fig. 4). The blower inlet I2 is thus in communication with the nozzle 3 .and the Vacuum cleaner I is capable of normal use, such as for cleaning floors and rugs.

The fact of communication of the opening 65 of the transverse tube 54 is a circumstance which does not militate against the normal functions of the vacuum cleaner to any appreciable extent.

-There will be an air influx through the hose 62, hollow handle 9, section 51 and tube 54 to a slight degree but this does not affect the eflicient working of the vacuum cleaner.

Adjustments of the height of the nozzle 3 in respect to the floor are made as normally by means of the knob 23, the operation of the latter not being conflicted with in any way by the attachments through which the shutting off of the nozzle chamber is accomplished. That requirement occurs when it is desired to use the accessory 63 (Fig. 1).

Said accessory is merely taken off of the clips GI and in order to direct the suction indraft at the nozzle 63 with full force the user steps upon the treadle 61 (Fig. 2) whereupon the sleeve roller I9 wipes upand across the cam arm 83, depressing the latter (arrow b, Fig. 2) and swinging the'wheels 2| to the farthest down position, the relativity of which is readily understood by a comparison with Fig. 5.

When the treadle 61 (Fig. 2) is pressed down as-stated the roller 19 passes beyond the dead center of 68 causing an automatic locking of the gate valve 43 in the closed position until toe pressure under the treadle 61 causes a release.

Simultaneously with the act of depressing the wheels 2| and raising the nozzle 3 to its highest possible position in respect to the floor the lever H swings upward and slides the gate valve 43 to its uppermost and closing position. Since the blower fan 5 is supposed to be in operation and since the opening 65 (Fig. 5) is the only one in communication with the inlet l2 it follows that the indraft can be traced through only the tube 54 and ultimately to the nozzle 63, confining the cleaning function to the latter without having had to disassemble or add any parts.

In conclusion it is desired to revert to the tube 54 which is described above as either fixed or swivelled in place. Actually the tube need not occur as an.attaclied element because with current facilities of making complex castings it is easily possible and usually desirable to mould the tube aspart of the case. This readily suggests the possibility of locating the tube 54 or its equivalent at any conceivable position or angle, the only requirement to be observed being to accommodate-the gate valve 43 ,so that it will be capable of shutting off the nozzle 3 to confine the opening 65 to the blower casing 4.

.l. A vacuum cleaner comprising a body having front and (back wheels for its supportand having a suction nozzle with a rotary brush revoluble therein and normally disposed closely to the floor, a turnable shaft carried by the body having crank axles carrying the front wheels, an arm branching from the shaft and having a cam terminal, a blower casing embodied in the body the gate valve to close off said inlet from the suction nozzl to confine its communication to the hollow handle.

2. In a vacuum cleaner, a blower casing, a suction nozzle spaced. closely therefrom, said 4 aa saase I nozzle including a back wall dividing the casing from the nozzle but having an opening affording communication of the nozzle with the casing, a blower fan motor having its shaft extending through the opening into the nozzle to drive a 5 brush revolubly located therein, a tube located adjacently to the blower and having an opening in normal communication with said inlet, a suction hose attached to an end of the tube, a

rectilinearly sliclable' gate valve located adjacently 10 to the back wallto control said opening, guide means for parallel edges of said valve, being carried by the back wall providing for the operation of the gate valve by sliding, said valve being notched to fit around the shaft when the valve is is closed, a treadle having a shaft supported by the back wall, and a lever on the shaft in movable connection with the gate valve for its operation.

3. A vacuum cleaner comprising a blower cas-' ing, a hollow handle extending off from said cas- 20 mg, said handle having an open upper end and a lateral orifice spaced longitudinally of the handle from said open end and in communication with said blower casing, aflcleaner nozzle,

and a hose connected at one end to the cleaner 5 nozzle and having its other end portion slidably mounted in thehollow handle for movement across the orifice but protruding at said open end, said protruding portion being wieldable without stooping thus to operate said end portion. 30

as a valve to open and close the orifice and thus establish or cut ofi communication of thenozzle with the blower casing. I

4. A vacuum .cleaner comprising a blower casfor movement across the orifice thus being oper able as a valve to open and closethe orifice, and a flexible connecting means between the orifice and the tube accommodating the pivotal movements of the handle in reference to the casing.

5. A vacuum cleaner oi. the type having a suction nozzl normally disposed closely to the floor and a rotary brush revolubly mounted in the nozzle for sweeping, a blower casing having a I dust bag outlet and an air indraft o pening communicating with the suction nozzle to draw an' 'air stream past the brush, a tube contiguous to said casing, having an indraft opening in permanent communication with said casing through its indraft opening and having a tubular conduit leading off from it and being equipped with a cleaner nozzle, and means for simultaneously shutting oir the blower 'indraft opening, ,thereby isolating the suction nozzle and its revolving brush from said tube 'and at the same time raising the suction nozzle to clearthe revolving brush-from the floor to avoid its dis-' turbing the dust.

- r GORDON BLAIN LUSE. 

